The It's Always the Right Time deal. Hey, wanna go to Mickey D's for lunch? Ooh, let's go now. But it's not lunchtime yet. If we're going to McDonald's, it's always the right time. Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. There's a deal for every lunch hour at McDonald's. Now's the time to get two for $3 .99. Mix and match a four -piece McNuggets, a McDouble, a McChicken, or a hot and spicy McChicken. Price of participation may vary. It cannot be combined with any other offer. Single item at regular price. Hi, everyone, and thank you for tuning in to the 505th episode of the Hollywood Reporters Awards Chatter podcast. I'm the host, Scott Feinberg, and my guest today is a stand -up comedian, actor, and author who has been a fan favorite for decades. Perhaps best known as one of the four stand -ups featured in Spike Lee's blockbuster documentary The Original Kings of Comedy back in 2000, he also starred on TV programs such as the WB's The Steve Harvey Show from 1996 through 2002, and on CBS's The Neighborhood, which began in 2018 and is heading into its sixth season. And he's also been in numerous films, most notably the Barbershop trilogy, with installments in 2002, 2004, and 2016. Back in 2002, A .O. Scott wrote in the New York Times, quote, He takes his obligations to the audience seriously, and no comedian working today holds up his end of the bargain better, close quote. He, of course, is Cedric Kyle's, better known as Cedric the Entertainer. Over the course of our conversation at the L .A. offices of The Hollywood Reporter, the 59 -year -old and I discussed his unexpected path to comedy and the origin of his unusual stage name, his occasional forays into dramatic acting in films such as 2007's Talk to Me, 2008's Cadillac Records, and 2017's First Reformed, his debut novel, Flipping Boxcars, co -written with Alan Eisenstock, which was inspired by a grandfather he never met, and which Amistad, a division of HarperCollins, will release on September 12th, plus much more. And so, without further ado, let's go to that conversation.